ASTANA (KAZAKHSTAN), May 24 — Datuk Seri Najib Razak said Malaysia will help Kazakhstan to turn its old capital Almaty, in the country’s south, a regional centre for Islamic banking and finance.
The Prime Minister said Bank Negara Malaysia will send a team to Kazakhstan soon to help realise the wish of Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev and Prime Minister Karim Massimov to use Malaysia’s expertise.
“They (Nazarbayev and Massimov) acknowledge Malaysia is the pioneer in Islamic banking, and we have advantages, we have the expertise and we also have a wide range of products.
“The two leaders suggested that Malaysia could help turn Almaty into an Islamic banking and finance centre for the region,” he told Malaysian journalists covering his official visit to the Central Asian republic.
Najib, who was accompanied by his wife Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor, Second Education Minister Datuk Seri Idris Jusoh and Tourism and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz, is on a three-day official visit here since Thursday as part of efforts to further enhance bilateral ties.
Describing the visit as fruitful, the Prime Minister said the success is reflected in the very warm friendships forged by the two sides, paving the way for better bilateral ties.
“Among matters we agreed on were on trade, the total bilateral trade needs to increase substantially as it does not reflect the economic potential between our two countries.
“Three memorandums of understanding were signed — for the construction of a LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) plant and a methanol plant, and for beef cattle breeding — worth about US$1.1 billion(RM3.2 billion), which will offer opportunities to Malaysian entrepreneurs in the resource-rich country, and this will also widen Malaysia’s role in Kazakhstan and the region,” he said.
Najib noted that a customs union of Kazakhstan, Belarus and Russia scheduled to be signed on May 29 will enable Malaysian entrepreneurs to export to the two latter countries duty-free and open the door to a market of 170 million people.
“This would make Kazakhstan among the countries that Malaysia should give serious atention to,” he said. Kazakhstan has signalled its readiness to allow national oil company Petronas to invest in its oil and gas production and upstream sector, including petrochmicals, he said, adding he would request Petronas to take follow-up action.
Najib also encouraged Kazakhstan to send more tertiary students to Malaysia, where there are currently about 2,000 Kazakhstani students and another 2,000 attending short-term language courses. Malaysia is also a popular destination for holiday-makers from the republic, especially during its very cold winters — Astana is the world’s second coldest capital with winter temperatures hitting -40 degrees Celsius, while in summer temperatures can rise to 30 degrees. — Bernama
